Volkswagen continues its tease of features that will
go into the all-new, 2019 Touareg, with the highlight of the SUV’s Night Vision
system. This comprises a thermal imaging camera to assist in conditions of poor
visibility, and can detect objects between 10 and 130 metres ahead of the
vehicle, according to Volkswagen.
The thermal (infrared) imaging camera can register
objects such as standing, non-concealed pedestrians, cyclists and larger wild
animals. The system determines if these objects are about to reach a defined
corridor due to their path of travel, and the Touareg driver is alerted via the
digital instrument panel ahead of him or her.
Objects detected which are outside what the system
considers to be the risk corridor will be represented on-screen in yellow
within the black-and-white image, and if objects cross the pre-determined
boundaries the yellow figures become red. If the Night Vision display isn’t
showing on the panel, it will automatically switch on when danger is detected
and at speeds above 50 km/h.
Below 50 km/h, a red warning signal within the
instrument panel illuminates without triggering the active display. An acoustic
warning is sounded together with the red signal, and the braking system is set
up to immediately provide the strongest deceleration, in other words full
braking.
The 2019 Touareg sits on the Volkswagen Group’s MLB
Evo platform which underpins the likes of the Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne and the
Bentley Bentayga, and a 367 PS plug-in hybrid version made possible by the
architecture will be introduced after the petrol and diesel models.
These will include a pair of turbodiesels producing
231 PS and 286 PS each, while a 340 PS turbo petrol V6 and a 421 PS V8
turbodiesel will be bound for selected markets
